Curtain guide



Aug. 9, 1932. T. E. MCNULTY CURTAIN GUIDE Filed Sept. 16, '1929 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Ang.` 9, 1932 THOMAS E. MCN'ULTY, 0F ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA CURTAIN GUIDE Application led September 16, 1929. Serial No. 392,998.

The invention Vforming the subject matter of this application relates to guiding devices for shades or curtains.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a vdevice for suspending a window shade in such a manner as to prevent the flapping of the ends and the edges thereof, at

the same time allowing a variety vof adjustments of the window shade positions, means l0 being provided to positively guide the window shade or curtain in i-tsmovement while the same is brought from one position into another desired position.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a guiding device for a window shade or curtain, which is suspend,- ed in operative relation to a window, said guiding device positively maintaining the window shade in true alignment at all 0 times and preventing the binding of the window shade on its guides.

Another object of the invention is the pr0-` vision of parallel guides for a window shade, which shade or curtain is suspended on a pull cord in such manner as to hold the free end o-f the window shade stationary and allow the movement of the spring roller of said shade relatively to `the free end thereof; 3,) means being provided on the opposite edges of said window shade or curtain vfor positively guiding the window shade in its movement on the guides; furthermore, the window shade is provided with a positioning element adjacent the spring roller thereof for the purpose of arresting the rolling and unrolling of the shade. The entire window shade may be raised and lowered as a unit, and the free end of the shade may be! made station ary whereby the window shade may be rolled and unrolled to any desired extent. V

Other objects and advantages are to provide a guiding device for shades or curtains, that will be superior in point of simplicity,y

inexpensiveness of construction, positiveness of operatiom'and facility and convenience in.

use and general efficiency.

In this specification and the annexed drawing, the inventionis illustrated in the form` considered' to be the best, but it is to be underv It will be noted that the spring roller is not stood that the invention is not limitedto such form, because it may be embodied in other forms; and it is also to be understood that in and by the claims following the description,

itis desired to cover the invention in whatv soever form it may be embodied.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which VFig. 1 is a front view of my window shade y guiding device, supporting a window shade on a window;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1; Y

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail front view of the spring roller locking mechanism of the G5 window shade and of its connection tothe guide; Y

Fig. 4 is an end view showing the attachment ofthe shade spring roller relatively to the guide;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail plan view of an end of the spring roller; Fig. 6 is a detail view of thepull cord locking pulley; i

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail view of the pull cord pulley, the section being taken on the line 7 7 of Fig.; and i v Fig. 8 is aV detail View ofthe guide holding element of my device.

VIn its general organization my device comprises a window shade 6, suspended on a pull cord'7, and slidably guided on parallel guides 8, which guides 8 are mounted on the window 9. c I

The window shade 6 is of the roller shade l85 type, and one endthereof is wound around a spring roller 11, while the other end thereof is provided with a strip 12 tothe center of which is atached an end ofthe pull cord 7. 4

mounted iXedly on the window, but it is movable relative thereto. In order to arrest the movement of the roller 11 relatively to the strip 12, I provide apositioning barl'so disposed as'to bear against the under side of the window shade. On each end of the bar 13 is secured a socket 14 having a central openv ing 16 therein, in which opening is rotatably supported a retainer loop '17 the latteris formed of a bent wire, the ends of the wire are 16" Y rebent outwardly so as to engage theinner struction; the ends ofitsshaft are lfixedly held relatively to the positioning bar 13 by means of brackets 19, which brackets are fixedly attached t0 the bar ,13. rEhe window shade or curtain 6 is so wound on the roller 11 that its under side bears against the bar 13 as` clearly shown in Fig. 4,therefore when the positioning bar 13`is freelyjsuspended, then the weight of the spring roller 11 holds the roller V11 below the bar 13, therebyhold- I ing the shade 6 in frictional engagement with 6G justed to any released shade 6 to any desired extent.

said bar 13, thus preventing the unrolling of the shade. In yorder to unroll the shade, it is necessary to turn the handle k18 and the bar 13 therewith, outwardly, away from the window casing, so that the shade 6 is freed from the frictional engagement with the bar 13; and then pull the bar 13 downwardly, away from the strip 12, thus unrolling the The releasing of the handle 18 and the return of the roller 11 to its original position by its own weight, automatically arrests any further unrolling or rolling ofthe shade 6. The raising of the shade is effected similarly to the lowering, by Vmoving the rolled end of the shade toward the strip 12,-the spring roller acting in the usual manner.

The guides 7 are preferably made of suit-- able wire stretched between brackets 21 and Y one guide 7 on each side of the shadel 6, the

guides being parallel with each other.- .'Ihe bar 13 is adjustable on the guideswhen the shade is raised or lowered, and is maintained in true relative position by its swivel,`retain ing loops 17 which surround the respective guides 7. The shade is raised or Vlowered in its entirety without binding -or without accidental rolling or unrolling -the shade. This is made possible by the arresting of the spring roller action invaiiy desired position. Thus by lowering or raising thestrip 12 by means ofthe cord 7, the ventire shadeis adposition on the window, Vas va unit. Y

ther-.strip 12, I secure. aclevis 26 on each end In order to further obviate binding of vthe `tively to the guides 7 and to the window.

The proper alignment of the shade with the guides, obviates binding on the guides, and greatly facilitates the lowering or raising of 'the entire window shade in both rolled and unrolled position. j

As heretofore stated, the entire shade is suspended on the cord 7, which in turn 'is guided on a pulley 27. 'The pulley 27 is rotatably supported in a'bi'aclret 28 fixed on the window casing. The pulley 27 is of the locking type, it is provided with the usual threads at the opposite ends thereof, so that when Vthe cord 7 is pulled ovei said threads it is locked' therein, alsoloclng the pulley against rotation, whereby the entire shade is suspended in its adjusted position. When the cord 7 is thus fixed, it prei/'ents the downward movement of the strip 12, therefore the rolling and unrolling of the shade to any desired degree is effected by the moving of the spring roller 11 toward or away from the strip 12 in the manner heretofore set forth.

It will be recognized that the aforedescribed guides and supports for a rolling shade positively maintain the shade in any 'adjusted position, and allow a great variety of adjustments of the shade position; `The device is simple and rugged in construction and positive in operation; it does not require any careful setting up or adjustment, therefore it readily lends itself to effective application and use. v

Having thus described this invention,

what I claim and'desire to secure by Letters Patent is: a

1'. A shade apparatus adapted to be used on a window frame comprising a window shade, adjustable means on the window fra-ine engaging the free end of the shade to suspend the same and being adapted to move the entire shadeas a unit into selected positions on the window, means on the other end of the shade Yupon which the shade is rolled, releasable meansoperatively related to said shade rolling means to normally arrest the opera-tion of the latter and prevent the rolling andV unrolling of the shade, guiding elementson the window frame, one adjacent each longitudinal. edge of the shade, and

means of connection between the shade arresting means and the guide elements to adjustably hold the former on the latter.

2. In a shade kapparatus adapted to be used on a window, a window shade, adjustable means supported on the V window for.

the shade;-a positioningv element slidably connected to said guides; and means to rockably suspend the roller on said element, the shade vbeing passed between-the positioning element and the roller, the weight of the roller normally holding the shade in frictional engagement withr the said element, said roller being movable away from the plane of the window to release the shade from said frictional engagement.` y Y 3. In a shade apparatus vfor use on a window frame, a window shade,l adjustable means on thewindow frame-connected tothe upper end of the shade to suspend the shade; a. spring roller on the lower end of the shade for rolling the shade when the roller is moved toward said upper end; guides on the window frame adjacent the longitudinal edges of the shade; and a positioning element slidably and rockably connected to the guides, the spring roller being connected to the positioning element to move with the positioning element as the latter is rocked, the unrolled portion of the shade extending between the roller and the positioning element and being normally held in irictionalcontact with the positioning element by the weight of the roller.

4. In a shade apparatus for luse kon a window frame, a window shade; adjustable means supported on the window and connected to the upper end of theV shade to suspend the shade; a spring roller on thelower end of the 'shade for rolling the shade when the roller is moved toward the upper end of the shade; guides on the window adjacent the edges of the shade; a positioning element; means to slidably and rotatably connect the positioning element to the guide; and means to connect the spring roller to the positioning element to move the roller toward and away from the window as the positioning element is rocked, the shade being extended between the roller and the positioning element and being normally held in frictional engagement with the positioning element by the weight of the roller to arrest the unrolling of the shade.

5. In a shade apparatus for a window, a window shade, adjustable means supported on the window for suspending the shade by its upper end; a spring roller on the lower end of the shade for rolling the shade; guides on the window adjacent the edges of the shade; a positioning element, said spring roller being mounted on said positioning element and being spaced therefrom, the shade beingv passed between the positioning element and the roller; connections at each end of the positioning element to slidably and rotatably connect the same to the respectivel guides forming a rockable suspension for'the roller, the roller being normally held below thelpositioning element holding theshade in engagement with the positioning element to arrest the unrolling of .the shade,'the roller'be-v ing rockable around said connections to release the shade yfrom the positioning element.

6. In afshade apparatus'for a window, a windowv sha-de adjustably suspendedby its free end; parallel guides on the windowedjacent the edges of the shade; a springroller' on the shade movable toward said free end to roll said shade; a positioning bar in parallel, fixed connection with the spring roller; adjustable means to slidably connect the barl to the guides, the shade. being passed between the bar and roller7 said connecting means being adapted to suspend the bar and the roller in a position to hold the shade in engagement with the bar to arrest theunrol'ling of the shade, and being adjustable to turn the rollerA around the bar to release the shade.'

7. In a shade apparatus for use ona window, a window shade adjustably suspended by its free end on a window; parallel wire guides at each edge of the shade; meansextending from the edges ofthe shade at the free endv thereof to slidably engage said guides; a spring roller movable relatively to the said free end so as to .roll and unroll :said shade; a positioning element on whichthe spring roller is ixedly mounted; guiding j Y the weight of the roller, said positioning element being'y rotatable around said Y guiding means to release the weight of the roller from the engaged portion of the shade.V Y

8. In a shade apparatus for use ony a window frame, a window shade adjustably susy pended by its free end on a window; parallel wire guides one at each edge of the'shade; U-shaped'members extending fronrthe 'opposite edges at the free end of the shade and having perforated ends toprovide a double slidable engagement with the guide thereat; aV spring roller movable relatively to the said free end upon which roller theshade is rolled; a positioning barsecured to7 and parallel with,Y thespring roller, said shade being passed between said bar and rollerg; means at each endof the positioning bar to guide said bar on the guide wires, the bar i being rotatable Von the said means7 theshade being'normally held in engagement with the bar by the weightof the roller to kprevent the unrolling of thesliade7 said bar.' and .roller being adjustableto release said shade from said engagement. f 1 Y v j 9; .In a shade apparatus for-use on a windowrame, a window shadeV adjustablysuspended by its free end on-,awi-ndow; parallelv wire. guides one alongside each edge' of thel shade; U'shaped members extending from the opposite edges at the free end of the shade4 p' and having' perforated ends vto provide a `5' double slidable engagement with Vthe guide thereat; a spring roller movable'relatively to the said free end on which the other.y end of the shade is rolled; a positioning bar secured to, and parallel with, the spring roller, said I shade being passed between said bar and roller; .and a` guide loop being rotatably mounted in each end of the bar for sliding engagement with the adjacent guide wire, the weight of said roller urging the underside of the shade against the bar when the roller-fisin freely suspended position.

10. In a shade apparatus adapted to be used on awindow, a shade, adjustable'means l on the window to hold the shade suspended by if the free end thereof, a spring roller on the other end of the'shade, a gu-ide on the windowv alongside each edge ofthe shade, means of connection between thel freeend of the shade and said guides to slidably align the shade relatively to the window, an element on one side of the shade being slidable on the guides and rotatable around its axis, means on the element to support the spring roller, said shade beingk passed between said element and v the spring roller while being rolled and'uin on a'windowframeeomprising a Window shade,V adjustablemeans -vl engaging an end of the shade toisuspend. the entire shade, a shade y roller on the. shade, means to render said shadel roller* turnableati one time .and to keep. itfrom turning other times as the'` shade is moved, guideelements on the window frame adjacent the longitudinal edges of the shade, means on the; free end ofthe shade to slid` ably connectthe shade to the respective guide 7E elements, and meansV operatively related to the'shadefoller operating means to'slidably connect the same to thejrespective guideelements.` f

In vtestimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand Vat Sani Francisco, California,` this 3rdV day'fof September;1929; e' i n o 'THOMAS E. MGNULTY.;

rolled, and being releasably held in en'gage- Y ment with said element at other times to prevent the rolling andunrolling of the shade.

11. In a shade apparatus adapted to be used on a window,a window shade having its upper end free, a spring roller on the lower end of the shade upon which the shade is rollable, an adjustablemember sup-ported on the window andengaging the free end' of the 4o' shade -to hold the same suspended on the window; a pair of guides on the window, one i alongside each edge of the shade; a p'ositiony ing bar disposed between the window and the 45 said guides and being rotatable, means to conneet the `roller to Vsaid bar so that said roller is swingable toward and away fromy the windowl as the bar is rot-ated normally to urge theV shade into engagement with the bar, and to Ait Afrom turning other times as the 'shade'is n 69' moved, guide elements onthe window frame shade, said bar being slidably connectedtoAV l release saidv engagement when the roller is adj aeent the longitudinal edges'of the shade,

andmeans on the free end of the shade to slidably 'connect the shade to therespeetiveguide elements.Y

655 13. 7A shade apparatus adapted to be used.V 

